Lacey to address septic system that threatens 2 Thurston County creeks
The city of Lacey, after receiving a nod of approval from city council, will move forward with a plan to help a community septic system that experts say isn’t expected to last two more years.
If the septic system at Tolmie Park Estates in the city’s urban growth area were to fail, the wastewater contained in the system threatens Eagle Creek, which feeds into Woodland Creek, which feeds into Puget Sound, according to information shared Thursday during a City Council work session.
The city can help by connecting the neighborhood to sewer.
The project is expected to be financed by a Utility Local Improvement District, in which a bond is issued and then the cost is repaid by property owners through a monthly assessment. If the entire project is financed, the property owners could pay around $300 per month, according to the city.
However, city officials said Thursday the city is prepared to contribute $2 million toward the project, which would lower the assessment to around $100 per month.
Still, there’s a lot more that needs to be done before the city reaches that stage, Public Works Director Scott Egger said. First, the city needs to meet with the Tolmie Park Estates homeowners’ association to explain the ULID process, as well as check to see whether the HOA set aside any money that could be applied to the ULID financing, potentially further lowering monthly assessments.
And the ULID process doesn’t go forward at all if a majority of property owners don’t agree.
“If they don’t forward a petition representing more than 50 percent, there won’t be a project,” Egger said. “They will have to deal with it when it gets condemned.”
The state Department of Health could take that step, he added.
Ideally, the city would like to design the sewer system in 2022 and build it in 2023, Egger said.
Septic future
As for the septic-to-sewer projects to follow 2030, Egger suggested the following: About 1,000 septic tanks, both in the city and the urban growth area, already face a sewer main in the street. He said the city should go ahead and pay to connect those properties and gain the benefit of more reclaimed water.
To connect those 493 properties in the city will cost about $10 million, and for the 574 in the urban growth area, about $11.5 million, he said. Both projects would be spread over the decade. By 2039 and beyond, however, the question becomes: Should the city continue to pay all of the septic-to-sewer costs or only a portion of them?
So far the city’s approach has been to pay for all of it, such as they did in the Capitol City Golf Club area, although the city also asked those residents to agree to be annexed in exchange for the sewer connection.
As for 2039 and beyond, the council, most notably Mayor Andy Ryder and Councilman Lenny Greenstein, said they were unwilling to offer direction that far into the future.
Chambers Estates
One question that was raised is why certain residents got their sewer connections paid for in the Capitol City Golf Club area, but others did not.
Egger explained Thursday that the original focus of the Capitol City Golf Club Estates project was to replace old and undersized water lines — something that was not a problem at the Chambers Estates neighborhood, which is west of Rainier Road. Then, the city had concerns about septic systems in the golf course area that threatened the city’s Well No. 4. Ultimately, the city wanted to replace the water lines and connect to sewer at the same time, he said.
The Capitol City Golf Club Estates project was much more urgent than Chambers Estates, Egger said.
This story was originally published July 11, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
